The Race to 3:52 – Day 2 Project Update

It’s the most wonderful time of year this week at 352: The Race to 3:52, a week-long sabbatical from client work where we can only work on internal projects that inspire us.

It’s kind of a big deal.

This year, we have 15 project teams each working their own project that must be completely finished by Saturday at 3:52 p.m. when everyone unveils their work. Then, we celebrate (after all, what’s a good race without a victory lap?).

We’re just wrapping up Day 2 of Race Week and figured it just wasn’t fair to keep all of this goodness behind closed doors, so here’s a sneak peek of just some of the projects our teams are working on. Remember to follow @352inc and #raceto352 all this week to see just what we’ve got brewing over here.

1 – Digital Paws

Is there anything better than free knowledge and puppies? Nope. Nothing. Team Puppies is working with the Humane Society of Tampa Bay on a video series that answers all your burning questions about the digital industry while at the same time helping get some much needed pups adopted.

Seriously: This must be the best day ever at work.

2 – How Real People Use Search Engines

My boyfriend once called it “The Google.” While I cringed and scolded him, he reminded me that he was my target audience. I don’t like to admit this a lot, but he was so right. Team Search Engine is doing research into how real people use search engines. The results are not only fascinating but will help us do our jobs better.

3 – Marinara: Time Management For Teams

The Pomodoro Technique is a life-saving time management technique, but its rigid structure and standardized breaks don’t bode well for some people. We’re building a variation of the Pomodoro Technique called Marinara that allows teams to customize their workflow and break periods to best suit them.

Marinara: Like the Pomodoro Technique, just a bit more fluid.

4 – Web Development: Choose Your Own Adventure

Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books you read when you were a kid? We’re taking that same concept and applying it to the web development process and paying homage to some of our favorite childhood video and computer games.

Choose wisely, or a zombie apocalypse could be in your future.

5 – Noodles & Doodles

We love Moz’s Whiteboard Friday. It’s one of the few things we always catch. We put our own spin on SEO’s favorite video series and incorporating overarching web development and digital knowledge.

Nothing like a dose of free knowledge to start the day.

6 – 352Speakers.com

This may come as something of a shock, but we’ve got a lot to say. The first of a series of 352 spin-off websites under development this week, 352Speakers.com will showcase members of our talented staff who want to share their knowledge as conference speakers and discussion leaders.

Always happy to share our knowledge.

7 – The Lead Mobile App

Let’s face it: We all miss Google Reader dearly, but instead of mourning, we started looking for an alternative but focused solely on the top digital marketing knowledge of the day. We couldn’t find one, so naturally, we built it ourselves. You’re welcome.

Code in progress is a beautiful thing.

8 – Dungeons and Developers

As certified geeks, we love role-playing games. And we love web development. Naturally, we wondered what a character talent tree for a web developer might look like. So, we decided to build one.

What happens when RPG meets web development

9 – Hex Invaders

Most developers rely on hexadecimal code throughout their workday, but so few truly know how to decipher what color they represent. Can you? Our new game will separate the men from boys when it comes to these mysterious 6-digit codes.

We’re seeing a theme in games this week.

And that’s just half of what we’re working on! Stay tuned all this week to #raceto352 to see how these projects and more are progressing. See the finished products in Race Week Part 1 and Part 2.

352 is an innovation and growth firm. Leading companies hire us to find billion-dollar opportunities, build killer new products and create hockey-stick growth. We bring grit and new-fashioned thinking to innovation, digital development and growth marketing.